Menu Design Menu Engineering 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: On a standard two-page restaurant menu, which area is considered prime real estate for placing high-profit items?
- Bottom left corner
- Upper right corner (Correct answer)
- Lower center fold
- Far left margin
Correct answer: Upper right corner
Eye-tracking research shows customers naturally scan a two-page menu to the upper right area first, making it the prime location for Stars and high-margin items.
Question 2: The 'anchor pricing' technique in menu design involves:
- Listing all prices in ascending order from top to bottom
- Placing a high-priced item to make surrounding items seem more affordable (Correct answer)
- Using only round-number prices throughout the menu
- Displaying prices in a very small or subtle font
Correct answer: Placing a high-priced item to make surrounding items seem more affordable
An anchor item sets a high reference point in the customer's mind, causing adjacent mid-range items to appear more reasonably priced by comparison.
Question 3: If a menu item has a food cost percentage of 30% and sells for $20, what is its food cost?
- $3.00
- $6.00 (Correct answer)
- $9.00
- $14.00
Correct answer: $6.00
Food cost = selling price × food cost percentage, so $20 × 0.30 = $6.00 in ingredient cost for this item.
Question 4: The recommended strategy for improving 'Plow Horse' menu items is to:
- Remove them from the menu immediately
- Lower prices to drive a higher volume of orders
- Raise prices or reduce portion sizes to improve their profit margins (Correct answer)
- Move them to the most prominent position on the menu
Correct answer: Raise prices or reduce portion sizes to improve their profit margins
Since Plow Horses already sell well, operators can improve profitability by incrementally raising the price or slightly reducing portion size without significantly hurting demand.
Question 5: According to menu psychology research, the ideal number of items per category on a restaurant menu is approximately:
- 3–4 items
- 5–7 items (Correct answer)
- 10–12 items
- 15–20 items
Correct answer: 5–7 items
Research based on Miller's Law suggests 5–7 items per category keeps customers from feeling overwhelmed while still offering meaningful choice.
Question 6: Menu item rationalization refers to the process of:
- Writing logical, factual descriptions for each menu item
- Reducing the number of menu items to streamline operations and improve profitability (Correct answer)
- Setting menu prices using a rational cost-plus pricing formula
- Organizing menu items in a logical, sequential order by course
Correct answer: Reducing the number of menu items to streamline operations and improve profitability
Rationalization means deliberately cutting underperforming or redundant items to reduce kitchen complexity, food waste, and decision fatigue while improving overall menu health.
Question 7: A 'loss leader' item on a restaurant menu is deliberately priced:
- At the highest margin to lead overall revenue generation
- At or below cost to attract customers and encourage additional purchases (Correct answer)
- Above competitors to signal a premium dining experience
- Just below a round number to appear psychologically affordable
Correct answer: At or below cost to attract customers and encourage additional purchases
A loss leader is priced at or below cost to draw customers in, with the expectation that they will order additional items (drinks, desserts) that generate profit.
Menu Design Menu Engineering 2
On a standard two-page restaurant menu, which area is considered prime real estate for placing high-profit items?